Device for sharpening safety razor blades



May 31, 1938.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 F (k I I G. BARSCH 2,119,264

DEVICE FOR SHARPENING SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Filed July 27, 1937 DEVICE FOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z i V. 4 $0 i l l i I I4 I I F 51 22 in Z9 16 i l K .41 a L -113 ii 1:11 11: :"1.

Innal a! 'uo me 2%115CZ Patented May 31, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIE DEVICE FOR SHARPENING SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Guillaume Barsch, Paris, France, assignor to IndustrieA; G. Allegro, Emmenbrncke, Switzerland Application July 2'7, 1937, SerialNo. 156,028

2 Claims.

Y No. 1,399,241, December 6, 1921; No. 1,863,431,

June 14, 1932, and No. 1,943,156, January 9, 1934, all for Devices for sharpening the blades of safety razors.

. The principal object of the present invention is to provide a safety razor blade sharpening device which is of optimum simplicity of construction and operation, is highly efficient, and can be economically manufactured.

Other objects and advantages. of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is aperspective view. showing the elements ofthe device disassembled,

Figure. 2 is a top plan view of the device,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional viewon the line 3-3 of Figure 2, I

Figure 4 is a detail vertical sectional View on the line 4-4 of Figure 2, but showing the blade supporting carriage in position for the insertion or removal of a blade,

. Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 2 with the carriage at the right-hand or rear end of the device.

As is best shown in Figure 1, the present device comprises a body member generally designated by the numeral it, a carriage l I slidable in a trackway in the body member ID, a razor blade holder l2 adapted to be mounted in the carriage ll, an end plate 13 pivoted at one end of the 2 body member l0 and a sharpening element I 4 mounted in the body member It. In its normal position, as best shown in Figure 3, the end plate l3 closes one end of the body member I t and the carriage H may only move through its nor- 1 mal path of movement for sharpening a blade,

but when the end plate I3 is swung downwardly to the position shown in Figure 4, the carriage it maybe moved partially out of the body memberlil so that it will hold the end plate down Q and a blade may be removed from or inserted in be moved to the position shown in Figure 4.

The body member It] is preferably formed of a single piece of metal and includes a bottom wall l5 and two side walls ll, with inwardly extending. flanges H3 at the upper ends thereof.

As bestshown in Figure 1, one end of the body member E0, the rear end thereof, is closed by an upstanding wall 2t, the upper and central portion of this wall being cut away but its end portions serving to limit the rearward movement of the carriage H within the body member.

The body member is has a longitudinally extending track 2'2 secured to each side of its lower wall Iii and, as best shown in Figure 5, each track 22 includes an upwardly facing groove 23 and a ridge 2%, the groove 23 being innermost with preferably includes three sharpening faces of dilferent abrasive qualities. In order that the sharpening element may be rotatable to have any one of its faces uppermost, it has pins 26 extending from each end, which pins are journalled in ears or trunnions 27 extending upwardly from the opposite edges of a cut-out portion 28 in the bottom wall of the body member. The portion of the pins 26 immediately within the ears 2! is three-sided and a flat spring 29 is secured to the bottom wall It adjacent one of the ears 2?, the flat spring being adapted to bear upwardly against one of the fiat surfaces of the pin to maintain the sharpening body in the position to which it isturned. Rotation of the sharpening element i4 may beeffected by engaging its lower portion with a finger positioned at the cut-out 28' in the lower wall it of the body member.

If desired, a spring such as disclosed in my above-mentioned Patent No. 1,943,156. may be used in place of the. hat spring 29 shown in the present drawings.

The carriage H comprises a cross-piece 39 and side plates 3!. As best shown in Figure 1, the outer faces of the side plates 3i have strips 32 secured thereto, which strips are preferably formed of hard fibre and extend below the lower edges of the side pieces 3! to move in the upwardly facing grooves 23 of the tracks 22. The lower edges of the side plates ii are provided with inwardly and longitudinally extending flanges 33 arranged to lie along the upper face of theinner Wall 2311 of each track groove 23, thereby tending to steady the carriage in its movement along the tracks.

A lever 35 1s pivoted on the outer face of each side plate 3i at 36, the forward end of each lever. being provided with a notch Sta to receive the razor blade holder I2 in the manner described in my above mentioned Patent No. 1,863,- 431. The rear end ofeach lever 35 is providedwith a kerf 31 in which is seated one end 38 of a spring wire 39 coiled intermediate its ends about a pin 48 within the upstanding abutment 4| on the cross-piece 30 of carriage II. By this arrangement, the forward ends of the levers 35 (the left-hand ends in Figure 1) will be tended upwardly, though such movement will be limited by a projection 44 extending downwardly from the right-hand end of each lever. The fibre strips 32 have their upper edges cut away as indicated at 45 to permit the forward ends of the levers 35 to swing downwardly from the position illustrated in Figure 1, as becomes necessary when the carriage has a razor blade holder l2 therein and is moving in the body member 553.

The cross-piece 30 of carriage ii is provided at its forward portion with an upwardly extending and overhanging flange 59 which has its upper and outer edge almost directly above the notches 36 of the levers 35 in which the blade holder l2 will be mounted. The curvature of the flange 56 is such that a blade carried by the blade holder !2 mounted in the notches 36 may move freely below the flange 50 and without striking against the same. A handle 4| projects upwardly from the rear portion of the cross-piece 35, the upper portions of the vertical walls of the handle being suitably milled so that the user may engage it between the thumb and fingers of one hand to move the carriage H on the body member I0.

The blade holder 12 is of substantially the same construction as the double-edged blade holder disclosed in my above mentioned Patent No. 1,863,431. More particularly, as best shown in Figures 4 and 1, it includes pins 53 at each end thereof adapted to seat in the notches 36 of the carriage levers 35, each pin 53 carrying at its outer end a, disc 54 formed of fibre or other material having some frictional qualities, the disc including two parallel flat surfaces 55, so formed on the disc that'they will extend at right angles to a blade B supported in the holder. A doublearmed lever 56 is secured to the extreme outer end of each pin, each lever 55 extending parallel with the blade when the latter is clamped in the holder. The central portion of each lever 56 is inwardly offset as indicated at 51 in Figure 1 but the remainder of each lever includes concave guide surfaces 53 and 59, these two surfaces being symmetrical with respect to each other and with respect to the plane of a blade B supported in the holder. Each end of each lever 56 is inclined as indicated at 60 to terminate in a point.

As is the case in my above-mentioned patent structure, the discs 54 and levers 56 control the position of the blade B supported in the holder I2 during the movement of the carriage in the body member. That is, the discs 54 will contact with the undersurfaces of the overhanging flanges iii of the body member, while the doublearmed levers 56 will contact with an abutment 6'! formed at the forward end of the struck-in portions 56, and also with an abutment 68 formed by a depression in each overhanging flange H8. The cooperation of the above-described discs 54 and levers 56 on the blade holder l2 with the cam track 65 and abutments 51 and 68 of the body member IE) is fully described in my Patent No. 1,863,431, it only being necessary for an understanding of the present invention to set forth the cycle of movement of a blade B: during movement of the carriage I I with respect to the body member If], which cycle will be as follows: Whenthe carriage is at its limit of normal movement to the left-hand or forward end of the body member [0, the blade will be in a vertical position as shown in Figures 2 and 3. When the carriage is initially drawn from this position and toward the right or rear end of the frame, and when it comes adjacent the sharpening element [4 the blade holder l2 will be turned in a clockwise direction (with respect to Fig. 3) until the blade has reached an almost horizontal position as indicated in dotted lines at B and so that its lower edge will trail across the sharpening element [4. As the blade leaves the right-hand end of the sharpening body, it will turn further in a clockwise direction to lie horizontally as at B this occurring substantially at the instant that the carriage reaches its right-hand limit of travel. When the carriage is then moved in the opposite direction (forwardly or to the left), the blade holder will turn slightly further in a clockwise direction to the position indicated at B so that the right-hand edge of the blade B will be downward and will trail across the sharpening element l4 until the forward end of that element is reached, whereupon the blade holder will turn slightly in a counter-clockwise direction to bring the blade to a horizontal position. Just as the carriage reaches the limit of this normal forward movement, the blade holder will turn quickly in a clockwise direction to position the blade in the vertical position shown in Figures 2 and 3 and with its heretofore rearward edge downward.

By this cycle, one side of the blade has been at least partially honed on both edges, and the next cycle will cause both edges of the other side to be similarly treated.

Figures 2 and 3 show the carriage at its limit of forward or leftward movement and, as has been stated above and as shown in these figures, the blade B is then in a vertical position, this being the only time at which the blade is in such a position. Obviously, with the blade lying in a vertical plane, one edge thereof is facing upwardly. Because of the cooperation between the overhanging flange 59 of the carriage H, and the overhanging flange 13 of the end plate I3, it will be impossible for the operator to have his hand come in contact with the edge of the blade. In other words, these two overhanging flanges serve as a guard during the time that an edge of the blade is upwardly exposed.

The end plate [3 of the body member In is generally flat with lugs 10 extending inwardly from its edges, the lugs being apertured as indicated at 'H to fit over studs or pins 12 projecting from the side walls I! of the forward end of the body member ill (the left-hand end in Figs. 1 to 4). The plate i3 is of a height substantially corresponding to the height of the side Walls of the body member, so that the forward end of the body member will be entirely closed by the end plate. A curved overhanging flange 13 extends upwardly and inwardly from the end plate, this flange being of such length and curvature that when the carriage i i with a blade supported therein is at its forward limit of normal movement as has been described above, the abovementioned flange l3 and the overhanging flange 50 of the cross-piece 38 of carriage II will almost completely overlie the blade holder and the blade B supported therein. As is clear from my abovementioned patent and from the present disclosure, it is only when the elements of my device are in or adjacent this position that the blade B lies in a vertical plane so that an edge thereof extends upwardly. By the structure just described the blade will be completely enclosed in this position so that it will be impossible for a user of the device to have his fingers come in contact with the edge of the blade.

The end plate i3 is normally held in the upward position shown in Figures 2 and 3 by reason of the fact that the outer end of a plunger 16 slidably mounted in the groove 24a formed by the track ridge 24 on one side of the frame member bears against the lower edge of the plate. As best shown in Figure 4, a coil Spring 'l'l has one end thereof bearing on the inner end of the plunger i6, and its opposite end bearing against a shoulder l3 struck down from the track ridge E l. The spring l1 thus tends the plunger Hi to outward position. In order that the plunger will exert the desired pressure at the lowermost and innermost portion of the end plate l3 when the latter is moved out of vertical position, the end 15 of the plunger is in the form of a tongue which is slightly curved outwardly and downwardly as illustrated in Figure 4 to extend about the lower edge of the end plate.

When it is desired to insert or remove a blade with respect to the blade holder l2, the user may turn the end plate I3 downwardly from the position shown in Figures 2 and 3 tothe position shown in Figure 4, thereby opening that end of the body member It. When this has been done, the carriage ll may be moved outwardly. to the position shown in Figure 4, in which position the blade holder l2 may be lifted upwardly and out of the notches 36 in the levers 35, so that a blade may be inserted or removed as described in my above-mentioned patent. The outward movement of the carriage just described is limited by stops 82 which normally project inwardly from the end plate [3 and therefore extend in a vertical plane when the plate is turned downwardly.

Because of the fact that the lower corners of the forward ends of the side strips 32 on the carriage l l are below the pins 12 on which the end plate swings, the forward ends of the strips 32 will come into abutting contact with the end plate l3 during normal movement of the carriage in the body member in without swinging the end plate downwardly. In other words, the end plate cannot be swung downwardly merely by contact therewith of the carriage, but must be positively moved down by the user. It will also be noted that when the end plate 13 is in the position shown in Figure 4, and the carriage II is moved oh the end plate, the latter will spring upwardly by the action of the plunger 16, so that the movement of the carriage will thereafter be limited in the usual manner.

The use of the movable end plate l3 results in a reduction of the length of the entire structure, thereby rendering the device more handy and convenient, particularly in traveling.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction shown in the drawings and described in the specification, and that the example of the use of the device which has been given does not include all of the uses or which the device is capable; also, that the phraseology employed in the specification is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

I claim:

1. A device for sharpening razor blades including a body member provided with a trackway and a sharpening element, a blade supporting carriage movable on the trackway and with respect to said sharpening element, said carriage including an element adapted to be manually engaged for movement of the carriage, said element extending over the blade supported in the carriage, and an element pivotally mounted on the body memher to normally cooperate with said last named elementto completely surround a blade at one position of said carriage with respect to said body member, and to serve as a stop in the path of travel of said carriage, said pivoted element being movable to a position in which it will permit said carriage to move beyond its normal path of travel to enable a blade to be removed from the latter.

2. A device for sharpening razor blades including a body member provided with a trackway and a sharpening element, a blade supporting carriage movable on the trackway and with respect to said sharpening element, said carriage including an element adapted to be manually engaged for movement of the carriage, said element extending over the blade supported in the carriage, and an element movably mounted on the body member to normally cooperate with said last named element to completely surround a blade at one position of said carriage with respect to said body member, and to serve as a stop in the path of travel of said carriage, said movable element being movable to a position in which it will permit said carriageto move beyond its normal path of travel to enable a blade to be removed from the latter.

GUILLAUME BARSCH. 

